I took SOCL 320, Sociology of Education, with Dr. Bidwell. This class fulfilled one of my perspective course requirements. This class dove into the development and structure of the education system. This included history
I learned so much in this class good and bad about the education system. Being a future teacher, I had an idea of the inequalities in the education system as well as flaws. After taking this class, it made me realize I only knew the tip of the iceberg. Hearing how hard the education field is at times, you would think some may stray away. For me, I found it very motivating to be the best teacher I can be and fight against injustices in the education system.
A very interesting part of the class was how a part of education history took part in Farmville. Barbara Johns who led a walk out for equal educational opportunity took place right down the street from the university. This was also the first protest in the civil rights movement. For this class we were required to visit the Moton Museum. I saw this extremely beneficial to go in to see, read and understand the conditions these students were leaning in.
Towards the end of the semester, she put us into research groups and gave each group a different topic that had to do with school violence prevention. My groups topic was student mental health. Our research summarized predictors, what can schools do to help, counselors roles in mental health, strengths and weaknesses of mental health providers, and response/recovery. My group put our findings into a google slides document and presented it to the class.